Native advertising has quickly become one of the most popular advertising techniques that a business can use. It isn’t a surprise really. It’s one of the best ways to convey your product over to an audience without it seeming like a full blown advert. It’s less, “SELL SELL SELL”, and more “Check out this interesting article about our product”.
In the past, advertising has been stuck in a rut. A lot of businesses feel that pushing their product as much as possible is important. This is why you see the same advertisements year after year in a newspaper, on a website or on TV. It’s only over recent years that it has become apparent that this isn’t what the customer is into anymore.
Sure, some people may see an advertisement that simply states they should buy a certain product, and they will go do just that. For the majority of people, it can be more off putting than anything. To put it plainly, how would you feel if you walked into a store and before you can even take a look at anything a sales assistant appears asking, “Do you like this shoe?”.
I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say this can be annoying, especially if you simply wanted to browse at your leisure. The same applies to advertising. You don’t want to enter a website to be bombarded with prices and deals. This is where native advertising comes in.
What is native advertising?
Native advertising and what is is has already been covered in a previous Neil Walker Digital blog, but it doesn’t hurt to have a recap.
In a nutshell, native advertising is unique and interesting, all while fitting the context of a site. A lot of people think of native advertising as clever advertising, as the actual ad is part of the content that a person looks at. It makes it a lot less intimidating, allowing a person to understand what your product or business is about in a relaxed and conversational way.
This form of advertising can appear in a number of different forms. It mostly appears on various websites, especially with the rise of social network popularity, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t appear in newspapers as well.
Why would native advertising be good for a smaller business?
It’s simple. How many times have you entered a website and simply ignored the banner advertisement. Even pop up ads have become part of a person’s routine on the internet, simply pressing the red X when they appear. A person doesn’t have to put any effort into ignoring any of these adverts, it’s simply natural. Recent studies have started to notice that at least half of banner ad clicks are down to people selecting them by accident.
As native advertising is a lot more organic; people are more likely to appreciate the ad as a piece of content, rather than something that is simply trying to sell it self. Some of the biggest websites that have started to allow sponsored posts, as long as they fit the style of the website.
Long life content
As a person who works for a company that deals with content, I see how long content is relevant. You can create a piece of top quality content that gets share by a large audience, but it’s unpredictable how long it will trend. I once wrote a blog that got a good amount of shares in a short space of time, but by the time it was the week after there were very few views and shares happening anymore.
It’s not that the content is bad. We live in a time where people live busy lifestyles. They’ll spend the time to read content, but unless it’s absolutely necessary then it isn’t likely that it will be revisited. Some people may find this disheartening, but this is where native advertising can come in handy.
If you have a piece of quality of content that you believe is “evergreen” (always relevant), then it can be more than suitable for native advertising. It may need rewriting so it fits the tone of the website that it will be published on, but as long as it’s interesting to read it will be ideal.
Social media and shareability
When you create any piece of content, whether it’s an advertisement or simply an informative piece, you want it to be shareable. It’s part of the job satisfaction when you’re a writer. Nothing is better than getting into work the following day to see that a piece of your content is trending on Twitter.
Social media is what makes mass sharing simple. As you read this you’ll notice that on the left of the screen is a sharing box. This allows you to share to Google +, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These four social networks are some of the most popular and important websites that have been created, allowing a wider audience to see the content we create.
You’d be surprised how easy it is for a piece of content to trend on social networks. If you post them to the right groups, or create an ideal #, you can be sure that it catches peoples attention. The same goes for native advertising.
Browsing Facebook earlier today (in my own time of course) I noticed a sponsored advert by Bulmers. It was on a guide to Wimbledon, an event that is going on at the moment. If I was to click on the link, I would have been taken to the article on the official Bulmers website.
If I’m the sort of person that finds Wimbledon interesting, then i’m going to want to check out this article. It helps to increase the website traffic for a traffic, and it’s more than likely that i’ll spend some time on here if I see something else that catches my eye.
Another example of this is sponsored tweets on Twitter. I clicked on Twitter to see who had interacted with me and on the top of the main page was a promoted tweet from Internet Explorer. It doesn’t seem like a full-on advert though. Instead, it showcases an interesting article on why it’s important to update your computer.
Although I’m learning interesting tricks and tips about Internet Explorer, without even realising i’m being persuaded to choose it as my default browser. They’re cleverly showcasing just how versatile Internet Explorer is without forcing the facts down my throat.
Native advertising and wider marketing
Some websites have stuck to the choice to have websites that only function properly when at a computer. One in every five people in the world own a smartphone, so it’s bizarre that people choose not to cater to this market. Businesses seem to think that a simple pop up advertising is good enough, but more often than not it’s just a nuisance.
The majority of social networks said no to pop up advertisements a long time ago, instead focusing on providing the same native advertising experience you’d get on a computer. Articles that are sponsored by a company are easy to see without them being obtrusive. More often than a not a person will click on them because they’re genuinely interesting to read.
There are also services that can help you create a native advertisement that will be optimal for mobile devices. Namo Media give you a way to add in line advertisements on a variety of mobile applications. They make sure you can make optimal native ads through the use of templates.
These templates can be adapted so that it follows your businesses brand. It’s important that your advertisement is as unobtrusive as possible. The main focus is to make your native advertisement as natural as possible, making it something that a customer will enjoy and even come back to.
Mobile marketing has become popular as smart phones have become more popular, so it’s important to make the most out of it. It would be a big mistake to completely ignore this market, as for some people, this will be the main way they browse the internet.
When creating native advertising, what should I focus on?
When you get to the point where you’re ready to make content, making sure that the content is relevant is a must. If the native advertising is going to end up on a pet shop blog, why would you talk about the latest cricket apparel? This doesn’t only mean that your content will get ignored, but it has been known for regular readers of websites staging mass exoduses as they feel they’ve been betrayed by the website.
As with the most advertising techniques, you should be aiming to turn a reader into a customer. This means that you need to spend a lot of time and effort into who it is your target audience is. Through a quick Google it’s possible to see what age demographic uses Facebook the most. This information can allow you to prepare a piece of content so it targets your audience as efficiently as possible.
This next tip is one that can catch a lot of people out, but if you spend the time and effort to perfect it you can be sure your native advertising will be as beneficial as possible. Although you’re trying to make sure that it works more like a piece of content than a full blown ad, you still need to link back to your website.
It can be done a lot more naturally than you may think. When you have a piece of content that is being hosted by another website, links from within that post that link to an article on your website is a great way to increase website traffic. By doing this you can build up a good reputation for quality content, hopefully resulting in people repeatedly coming back to your website.
Generally, it’s better to host your content on your own website, having the native advertising link on a social media website. Of course, this may not be possible if you’re a smaller business, so at the start of your marketing you may want to wait until you’ve become more popular before you solely publish content on your website.
If you choose a blogger, make sure that they are respected by the audience that reads them. If it’s a blog that focuses on controversial subjects then it may not be the best place to have native advertising. Choosing to partner with a blogger, you bypass advertising partners that can often be inefficient.
Depending what blog partner you have, you may find that your content starts to become fresher and more relevant so that it matches the website it will be one. Again, a big part of picking the correct blogger boils down to who your target audience is. It’s going to make your job a lot harder when trying to attract a wider audience if only a low percentage of people that read the blog find it interesting.
Final thought
I personally think that native marketing is one of the most exciting developments in recent years. It’s a lot fresher and more creative when compared to the older methods of advertising which simply required on making sales. Making quality content that also advertises a brand is a good way to ensure that the audience doesn’t see you as a faceless business that simply wants their money.
When making an advertisement for your business, you want to make sure that it’s relevant whilst still being interesting. Native advertising allows this, letting you interact with a wider audience that you possibly couldn’t access before. Social media has made this process a lot easier and accessible, allowing even the smallest of businesses to get involved.
What do you think of this new breed of advertising? Do you feel it has made a big impact in the way businesses work? Join in the conversation on Twitter. Tweet us @theukseo to get involved.